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With the distinct ethnic-driven sound of , Eric Mouquet belongs to the few unique pioneers of electronic music. His highly recognizable sounds defined the concept of world music and shaped the all-new sound of ethnic-electronica. Since the very first album of Deep Forest, Eric Mouquet loved using and exploring samples: “I experimented a lot with parts of sounds, songs and voices. This technique contributes the heart and soul to the very own sound of Deep Forest.”

Deep Forests’ Signature-Anthem “” instantly opened the world stage for the band. Their associated first album became a huge success and gained gold, platinum or double-platinum status in numerous countries like Australia, France, Germany, Great Britain, Japan or the United States. In 1995 Deep Forest won the prestigious Grammy Award for their album Boheme. They were the first French artists to win a Grammy Award and to this day, they only share this honour with Daft Punk.

Over the last 20 years Deep Forest released numerous highly regarded albums including exciting collaborations with Peter Gabriel, , Joe Zawinuls’ Syndicate, Paco Sery, Rahul Sharma, Lokua Kanza and many more. Deep Forests last releases include Deep Brasil, and Deep India where Eric Mouquet explores the unique musical expressions of some exciting cultures.

With his new album “Evo Devo” Eric Mouquet has gone even further – and nevertheless simultaneously back to the “bohemian feel” of his early works. His tonal craftsmanship has developed into an own artistic language. Every track explores a distinct emotion. You can almost feel and follow Eric’s inner motivations and share his musical journey to the frontiers of contemporary electronic music and beyond.

QUOTE FROM ERIC

“Composing a new album is always something special and quite a magical process. I compose and experiment in the studio for months, crafting sounds, taking notes, exploring new machines, playing, improvising and finally letting the music evolve without any pre- conceived idea. One day without any special reason, everything starts to make sense, the different ideas gather in a logical form and there it is: the finished, brand-new album.

When I started this one, I did not imagine, that the music finally could lead me to all these songs. Step by step I realized how this album was related to the Boheme-Deep-Forest-Feel and at the same time was so deeply anchored in the up-to-date electronic music scene.

Deep Forest is in constant evolution, persistently digging, exploring the roots of the past albums to arrange and develop new sounds and musical adventures. The concept of Evo-Devo, which is based on studies of the process of evolution and the ability of nature to create new forms and structures, is part of my musical approach. Starting from a single sine waveform to create any kind of sound, based on the broad heritage of the Deep Forest influences, make me feel like these scientists trying to understand the secret of life...”

- Eric Mouquet

WHAT ABOUT EVO-DEVO? Evo-Devo is one of the fastest growing current trends in evolutionary biology. Evo-Devo compares the developmental processes of different organisms to determine the ancestral relationship between them, and to discover how developmental processes evolved. Evo- Devo demonstrates that evolution alters developmental processes to create new and novel structures from the old gene networks.

Produced by Eric Mouquet 2015 Recorded at EMM Studio France by Eric Mouquet 2015 Mastered at EMM Studio France by Eric Mouquet/Remy Pinault 2015

© 2015 Eric Mouquet by YEAA Publishing All rights reserved. Used by permission.

TRACK-BY-TRACK

01: Simply Done 3:09 Music Eric Mouquet/Oyme. Published by YEAA Publishing featuring Oyme on vocals Oyme is one of the most outstanding ethno-bands of Russia. I met them at a festival in Moscow. They sent me some vocal tracks to play with. Listening to the rare Mordovian polyphony in the languages of Moksha and Erzya performed by Oyme, their distinct style and harmonies, I got the idea of recreating the atmosphere of Deep Forests Grammy Award winning album “Boheme”.

02: Stutter Dream 3:59 Music Eric Mouquet. Published by YEAA Publishing featuring Lyonel Bauchet on Buchla I like to experiment with the pace of a song. Nowadays dance music seems to be stuck in the 4-to-the-beat schematic, but there is so much more to rhythm than a straight 4/4. Even on danceable tracks you could add some polyrhythmic groove. So in the middle of this track I composed a piano melody based on a polyrhythmic pattern 6/4 and 7/4 at the same time on both hands. Some fun to play... The amazing Buchla 200e patched by Lyonel Bauchet brings some spices to the track.

03: B-Vatar 3:27 Music Eric Mouquet. Published by YEAA Publishing featuring Lyonel Bauchet on Buchla Originally, I recorded this piano-improvisation just for fun. It was inspired by the music of German composer and musician Nils Frahm. The delay I applied to the instrument produces a sequence with which I play. Further along analogue synths enrich the pattern by repeating them at different intervals. I close with a simple sequence played with a fat analogue bass sound on the Oberheim OB-Mx . The title of the track is B-Vatar because A-Vatar was already taken…

04: Oyme's Song 5:14 Music Eric Mouquet/Oyme. Published by YEAA Publishing featuring Oyme on vocals Joe Zawinul is one of my heroes in musical terms. Particularly his approach to not using a synthesizer as a piano or organ, but as a new instrument. He used to say “The synthesizer is an equalizer to reveal where the musician is at...". This track is a tribute to Joe: It starts off with a melodica theme as a question, then the answering quotes of Oyme and then the synthetic voice that completes the circle. The harmonies are again very "Bohemian", probably inspired by the timbre of Oyme . I then played a solo, a modest tribute to Joe... The title ends with the melody played on melodica in a very “frenchie” mood. You can feel yourself almost under the bridges in Paris...

05: Somewhere 4:40 Music Eric Mouquet. Published by YEAA Publishing featuring Paco Sery on drums, featuring Eugene Mishustin (voice narration) and Ilya Truskovsky (voice narration design) I love Skrillex! The first time I heard him, I thought these could be Deep Forest samples. It is not so much the sound itself, but rather how Skrillex played with these sample tips. I was told that he once mentioned Deep Forest in an interview. I'm not sure, but anyway, I feel a connection, a common approach in the treatment of samples. In this track, which begins with a vocal-nod to the first Deep Forest album (“Somewhere, deep in the jungle...”), I had fun with some samples and dub sounds. I love it...

06: Happy Tribe 3:50 Music Eric Mouquet. Published by YEAA Publishing I have always been fascinated by the hymns sung in stadiums: Different rhythms and tones, different timing, all of that ended up giving an overwhelming clamor, roar, outcry. I recorded all these voices from various venues and then I began to re-organize them into a unique melody. The sources are many and I think with all the editing work and reconstruction you listen to more than 100 000 people singing this melody ... Totally virtual!

07: Tibet 4:52 Music Eric Mouquet. Published by YEAA Publishing featuring Paco Sery on drums In this track, it is the spirit of the Himalayas that inspired me: These Tibetan horns and analog synths to respond evoking the grandeur and magic of this region. The powerful drums are played by Paco Sery. Paco is an exceptional musician with a boundless creativity, everything becomes music in his hands. Joe Zawinul once said, Paco is the best drummer in the world. He was not wrong.

08: Singing with the birds 3:59 Music Eric Mouquet. Published by YEAA Publishing Olivier Messiaen once wrote different pieces of music based on the birds singing. I always found this idea fascinating. So I started to record some birds in the nature. One day while working in the studio, I began to imagine a dialogue between the synth and the birds. After a lot of time experimenting with the idea, this track came to life.

09: Blue Story 5:15 Music Eric Mouquet. Published by YEAA Publishing featuring Lyonel Bauchet on Buchla Again a petit melodica melody in this track and a simple piano theme. It is another homage to “Boheme” but this time instead of using a Bulgarian choir I turned an African voice into a balcanic feel. The meaning of this? In Music, everything is possible. There are no frontiers for a voice.

10: Dead Forest 3:31 Music Eric Mouquet. Published by YEAA Publishing featuring Lyonel Bauchet on Buchla I was inspired by a time-lapse video of a forest season cycle, starting from winter to spring, summer to autumn and then winter in an infinite loop. A stereo synth-bass sequence is the origin of this track. Stereo bass is not really usual and generally a producer will avoid it, but after all, why not? Then I asked my friend Lyonel Bauchet to add some sequences from the Buchla 200e. Giving to the track a hypnotic evolving electronic loop. He perfectly mastered his huge modular synth.

11: Continuum'song Music Eric Mouquet. Published by YEAA Publishing featuring Eugene Mishustin Strings Arrangements It started with an improvisation on the Continuum just before dinner. When the friends arrived, I recorded it to keep the addictive sound in mind. What I did, was programming an accordion or harmonium sound on a keyboard for the left hand and I improvised that melody with the other hand on the Continuum. I put that track aside for a while, thinking it would be too different to fit into this album. Then I got the idea to ask my friend Eugene Mishustin to write a string arrangement. His Russian classical music training was perfect to contribute to the melancholic end of the albums journey.

EQUIPMENT I USED Waldorf Wave, Haken Continuum, Oberheim OB-Mx, Prophet 5, Prophet VS, Multimoog, Moog Voyager XL, Yamaha VL1, Buchla 200e, DSI Tempest, MFB Tanzbaer, DSI Pro 2, Grotrian Steinweg Piano, Hammond Melodica, Cirklon Sequentix, Elektron Octatrack

THANK YOU Special Thanks to: John and Sue Hall, Paul and Keiko Pheby, Christophe Duquesne, Sven Bürgel and Cathrin Engelhardt, Luc Vergier, Remi Faillant, Remy Pinault, Francis and Andrea Ringenbach, Paul Kwitek, Nenad Hamsic, Jack D'Arcy, Jean Albert Lièvre. Big Thanks to: My musician friends Paco Sery, Oyme, Eugene Mishustin, Ilya Truskovsky, Lyonel Bauchet. Very Special thanks to my beloved Yuki, Ange and Ambre Mouquet, to my mother and my good friend Jean Marc Galabert for their support.

OTHER DEEP FOREST ALBUMS AVAILABLE

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Photography: Rémi Faillant Cover & Packaging Design: Rémi Faillant Booking: [email protected]